[Eugene Church]

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Wednesday, September 24, 2031

IPA Pro Cup Preview, Vipers Favored
The yearly quest for the IPA Pro Cup begins tomorrow with a pair of opening round games in the Ruthlandian Union featuring San Dimas and Valmara in one Elite 8 matchup and Sligo and Elnora in the other. In Tycobbia it will be Rolling Hills hosting East Point and Luxora taking on Ginza. Baseball analysts are picking Valmara to win the RU, while it's a toss-up in the TU among Luxora and Rolling Hills. The pundits are giving the edge to the Vipers in the Pro Cup Finals. All series will be best-of-seven games.

Valmara is expected to make another serious run for the Pro Cup crown... they won it in 2026 and were finalists last year and in 2023... the defending Pro Cup champion Blue Lake Blue Sox failed to make the playoff this season... for the sixth year in succession Jet Kazmarek's club is the RU North winner... Valmara (99-55) coupled great pitching and solid hitting to lead all comers in the IPA with 99 victories... the Vipers batted .275 as a team, ranked fourth in scoring and paced the IPA with a superior 2.85 team ERA... top performers were Garry Gromek (21-17/2.76), Teddy Lem (17-9/2.74), Carroll Cain (17-13/3.22), Ivan Guzek (10-3/2.06/22 saves), LF Benny Hooper (.325/25/115/92), CF Reno DiBenedetto (.285/16/100/101), RF Gerry Kazmarek (.313/10/64/105), C Floyd Randolph (.295/20/97/64) and 1B Jerry Rembert (.264/25/72/77)... Valmara is just average on defense with a .972 FA.

The San Dimas Rancheros won the Ruthlandian South for only the second time in history... the last year they took the division pennant was way back in 2008... this season the Rancheros pulled away in the second half and won comfortably by 7 games over second place St. John. Manager Wesley Pate guided division champ San Dimas (93-61) up from fourth in 2030 with standout mound work from Jay Barajas (23-10/2.68), Joaquin Lima (22-14/3.10) and Miguel Valdes (17-11/2.99), plus quality help from Shannon White (13-10/3.47) and closer Hector Villa (5-6/2.24/25 saves)... Villa topped the RU with 25 saves... Pate only has an average offense (17th) with very little power... the team hit only 79 homers (32nd)... 2B Joey Harris (.314/10/76/81) was the team's top batter, followed by SS Cloyd Middleton (.299/3/58/67), 3B Gregg Mathis (.291/9/55/73) and CF Ramon Escobar (.279/10/76/88)... San Dimas was tied with St. John defensively with .977 FAs, ranked second in the RU. Last year Blue Lake won the IPA crown with strong pitching... San Dimas thinks they can do it this year.

The Elnora All-Stars went on a second-half rampage and claimed the RU East pennant with ease, winning by 11 games over the defending division champion Wynnamac Sundowners and Beechwood Bobcats, who deadlocked for the runner-up slot... this was Elnora's first flag since 2023 and the fourth overall in its history... they have been stuck in the second division for most of the last decade. Last season was a fright for manager Leon Carter and his All-Stars (95-59) when they suddenly slipped to last place, mainly because of its pitching... this year the staff rebounded with a vengeance, improving from a poor 4.03 ERA to solid 3.42 ERA (12th), sparked by Lucien Vashon (22-10/3.18), Jeremy Sellers (22-11/3.09), Freddy Pfeffer (18-13/3.65) and 34-year-old Marv Elderson (12-8/3.89), who blossomed in a starting role after 8 years of mediocrity in the bullpen... the Elnora bats backed them up with a RU-leading .286 BA (1st) and ranked second in scoring, led by RF Pettis Pentleton (.353/15/98/111), who led the league in hitting, CF Travis Glass (.338/25/95/91), 1B Mel Long (.291/25/103/77) and 2B Matt Boyd (.314/13/85/76)... Look for the All-Stars to severely test the Valmara Vipers in the playoffs.

The Sligo Rovers captured their third RU West division flag in the last five seasons, staving off Fort Benton by 3 games and defending division champion Colfax by 6 games... Sligo has finished in the RU West first division for eight successive years... manager Eddie Keys got improvement in pitching and at the plate this year as his Sligo Rovers (86-68) claimed the RU West crown... Keys' mound staff was solid with a 3.36 ERA (10th) and his offense was sufficient with a .260 BA (19th) as the Rovers ranked 15th in scoring... defensively they were bad with a .966 FA... top pitchers were starters Earl Perkins (15-11/2.75), Bud Foster (13-11/2.60), Terry Bailey (16-13/3.36) and Lou Page (11-7/3.87), along with closer Andy Velasco (7-7/2.36/19 saves)... Sligo had no standout sticks... CF Darryl Collins (.283/22/71/82), 1B Maury Rice (.271/22/71/69) and 3B Howie Robertson (.276/2/56/82) were the most dependable... no one give the Rovers a serious chance in the Pro Cup competition, although they have played very well for the final six weeks of the season, chalking up a 29-19 mark... so have Valmara (29-19), San Dimas (31-17) and Elnora (34-14).

Over in the Tycobbian Union the pennant race in the TU North was only close for half the season... the Luxora Zorros took charge after the All-Star game and won the division handily by a whopping 13 games over the Fairfax Frogs and 16 better than the defending Pro Cup champion Blue Lake Blue Sox... the second-half surge gave the Zorros the most wins in the TU... Luxora notched 96 victories, which was second to Valmara of the RU North, who paced the IPA with 99 wins... The Z's won their 8th division title and the first since 2022. Strong pitching put Luxora (96-58) over the top this season... Manager Lacey Tompkins' hurlers compiled an impressive 3.08 team ERA (5th)... the Zorros finished second last year to Blue Lake in the TU North... good hitting in the second half of the season combined with the fine pitching to run away with the division... The Z's batted .256 (20th) with 138 home runs (12th) and ranked 11th in scoring runs... two 20-game twirlers Benny DeVito (22-14/2.29) and Fabio Medeiros (22-6/2.76) sparked the club... plus Valente Viero (16-15/2.76) and Tommy Ellefsen (13-7/3.83) were capable in the three and four spots in the rotation... relievers Kent Halloran (11-6/2.84/18 saves) and Toby White (6-3/1.98/13 saves) aided the cause, too... leading the Luxora attack were 1B Gerry Hathaway (.304/27/97/86), RF Roger Noble (.295/27/81/65), LF Carl Denton (.280/26/78/70) and CF Kevin Hanley (.283/15/64/97)... the Zorros are expected to make some noise in the Pro Cup playoffs this year... Tompkins' team is clicking on all cylinders and ready to roll in the postseason.

2031 was not a good year for the teams in the Tycobbian South. Only 3 of the them ended up winning records... down the stretch it was a 3-team battle with the Ginza Ninjas edging out the Southport Sun Sox by a single game and the Colchester Elites by 3 games... the race wasn't decided until the last day of the season. Southport could have forced a playoff, if they had won the on the final day... division champ Ginza (82-72) bounced back from a fifth-place 2030 season to take the crown... manager Huroko Uchiyama used home-run power primarily... his Ninjas cracked 169 roundtrippers (6th) and ranked fifth in runs with a .265 BA (8th)... pitching-wise Ginza was not impressive with a 3.83 team ERA (23rd)... the Ninjas featured a solid core of hitters with 1B Roger Lanier (.308/34/95/96), CF Cotton Cornwall (.278/31/108/97), 3B Johnny O'Rorke (.274/31/103/82) and LF Sadaharu Utchiyama (.305/15/72/93)... Lanier came to the Ninjas in June in a trade with St. John of the RU South... Ginza's pitching is suspect... Uchiyama's top starters were Harlan Wilson (18-12/4.19) and Andrei Schuler (16-15/3.66)... the Ninjas are not likely to get very far in the postseason.

For only the second time in its history East Point has won the Tycobbian East... the first time it happened was 23 years ago in 2008... the Panthers parlayed powerful pitching, home-run punch and good scoring to subdue the high-scoring Red Bluff Red Sox by 4 games... manager Karol Zodoka has the East Point Panthers (89-65) revved up and ready to go in the Pro Cup playoffs, which starts up tomorrrow... the Panthers scored 696 runs (9th), and socked 175 home runs (4th), but only batted .253 (22nd), while chalking up an impressive 3.05 team ERA (3rd)... Zodoka had 5 starters at various times during the season... heading up the rotation was Dixie Brooks (21-15/2.53), Frank Blair (17-16/3.11), Jack Bolden (8-5/3.07/12 saves), Stephen Edwards (15-8/3.11/11 saves) and Joe Foley (7-3/2.88)... Foley missed a year and came back in July to help fend off Red Bluff... Bolden and Edwards did double duty as starters and closers during the season... at the plate the Panthers were led by power-hitters 1B Tetsu Tanaka (.263/39/106/102) and CF Kenko Aoki (.275/35/89/87) with help from LF Wally Wright (.305/9/65/73). The Panthers will contend with Rolling Hills and Luxora for the TU title and the right to play for the IPA Pro Cup against the Ruthlandian Union champion.

For the 7th time in 13 years the Rolling Hills Reds have taken the Tycobbian West division crown and they did it by a comfortable 7 games over runner-up Bay St. Clair... Matty Christianson's Reds (91-63) led the IPA with a .290 team batting average and 785 runs... however the Reds were just average in pitching with a 3.57 ERA... Christianson has an abundance of fine bats led by his son 1B Billy Christianson (.336/16/75/133), who easily topped the IPA in runs with 133... RF Scotty Yiska (.306/27/105/89) and CF Terry Wade (.319/6/71/64) also batted .300... C Tony Brinkerhoff drove in 113 runs with 13 roundtrippers and a .262 BA... 2B Derek Kristensen (.297/5/49/76), 3B Jeff Booker (.289/1/64/63) and SS Tony Ptacek (.272/6/37/33) were productive bats, too... part-time regulars 3B Buffy Kowalczyk (.330/6/46/31), LF Lonnie Chadwick (.323/10/42/52), RF Bobby McConnell (.352/2/20/24) and Billy Jones (.301/1/15/19) hit over .300 as well... on the mound Errol Gaudet (21-8/2.75) and Tom Pierson (21-7/2.54) had super seasons... the other two starters Kenny Leonard (10-6/3.79) and Buck Myers (15-12/3.80) had quality seasons, too... closer Maury Cantrell (8-2/2.43/16 saves) was effective in the bullpen... with its high-octane attack and two very capable starters like Gaudet and Pierson, Rolling Hills will be a vibrant challenger in the TU playoffs, along with East Point and Luxora. The Tycobbian Union looks like a 3-team tussle with Ginza of the TU South not likely to be much of a contender... the hottest TU teams going into the playoffs are Luxora and Ginza... The Zorros notched an 32-16 mark, while the Ninjas were 30-18 the last six weeks... Rolling Hills was 27-21 and East Point posted a 25-23 record.

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES PRO CUP POLL:
1. Valmara Vipers (RU)
2. Luxora Zorros (TU)
3. Elnora All-Stars (RU)
4. San Dimas Rancheros (RU)
5. Rolling Hills Reds (TU)
6. East Point Panthers (TU)
7. Sligo Rovers (RU)
8. Ginza Ninjas (TU)